"Rex, you naughty dog, what did you do with my shoe?" Laurie came into the living room as Rick was pretending to read the paper. Hiding his grin, he looked up to see her looking under the pillows and chairs.
"Sweetheart, what'cha looking for?"
"My black boot, Rick. Rex was trying to chew on it this morning when I stopped him, now I can't find it." She said, then caught the hint of a smile in his eyes.
"Oh, I have an idea where he might have hidden it." She pretended to look behind Rick's chair, then reached over and tickled him.
Surprised, Rick raised up, then Laurie plucked her boot from behind him, "you stinker, letting me blame the puppy!"
Laughing, he pulled her into his lap and tickled her. "Stinker, huh?
"Yes, you..you…, oh, darling !"she laughed, "Uncle, I surrender!"
"Then I do too." Rick wrapped her in his embrace and kissed her. "My princess."
"All yours, dearest." She nuzzled his ear. "I'm glad you and A.J. decided to take this week off. With the childrenat Little League camp, Linda can come to the Center for Lamaze class."
Just then the phone rang, and he reached over her shoulder to pick it up. "Simon residence."
Silence, then a rough voice. "I wouldn't go to court anytime soon, Mr. Simon."
Abruptly Laurie saw his expression change, "Who is this?" he said angrily.
Click.
"Rick?" she saw his face darken, then he looked at her.
"Darling, was it about our testifying?" she asked, quietly.
He nodded, then she put her arms around his neck. "I was afraid something like this might happen, love. It's scare tactics, but they won't stop us, Rick. Just another week until the preliminary hearing."
"My brave girl." Rick kissed her, then put his face against hers. "Sweetheart, just the same, we're going to be extra cautious. I need to know every minute where you are, and Oscar and Rudy want to make sure you wear both your transmitters at all times."
"Yes, darling." She sighed, then replied "I want to know where you are too, I need to make sure you're safe…Oh, Rick..." She choked, then he made a shushing noise as he stroked her hair.
"No one's going to part us, Laurie. Everyone's going to be looking out for us, so there's no way Patrone can stop our putting his son away. Okay?"
Laurie kissed him hungrily, then whispered "Si, mi amor."
In the days that followed, call after frightening call harassed the Simons. Not just at the ranch, but A.J. and Linda got a series of hang-up calls, then Robbie and Ramona, and finally Robin and Ian.
At first Rick wanted the machine to pick them up, only to find nothing was said when the machine answered for them. Unfortunately, the first time Laurie picked the phone up on the day before their court appearance, the voice behind the calls added a new threat.
"Mrs. Simon, I would sure hate to see you… or your grandchildren get hurt over this. Don't come to court tomorrow." Click
Shaking, Laurie called out, "Rick!"
At once he came in from the kitchen, then immediately went to her as she sat heavily on the sofa. "Laurie, what did they say this time?"
She swallowed hard, then managed to steady her voice. "He said he'd sure hate to see me or our grandchildren get hurt, then he warned me not to go to court."
Rick cursed out loud, then sat down next to his wife and pulled her into his arms. "No, sweetheart, no."
"I'm okay, love." She said, then saw his expression. "Don't look like that, darling. I'm safe here with you, and Patrone is not going to frighten us into silence."
He was silent for a moment, then Laurie put her hand on his face. "Rick, call Ron on your transmitter and have him pull our phone records, we might at least see where the calls are coming from."
Rick looked into her eyes, then took her hand and moved it to his lips. "I love you, Laurie. I won't let anyone hurt you or our family. Maybe it's time we went on the offensive."
"That's my brave knight." She kissed him, then added, "one thing, love…."
He saw her wink and he lifted her into his lap. "What's that, sweetheart?"
"You used a bad word, a very bad word. I think you deserve a time out for that. With me." She replied suggestively.
Smirking, Rick stood up with her still in his arms. "Yes, Mrs. Simon. I think a time out is a good idea."
Their good humor lasted until the phone rang that afternoon. Rick insisted on taking it, then answered it on the extension.
"Simon residence."
"Next time it won't just be your brother's car. Don't come to court tomorrow."
Rick gasped, then the familiar click and dial tone sounded in his ear.
At the same moment his transmitter lit up, then Laurie called from the living room, "Rick! A.J.'s trying to reach us, says our line's been disconnected."
Relieved, Rick turned on his watch, then heard the comforting voice of his brother. "Rick, are you and Laurie all right?"
"Yeah, A.J., I was just about to panic, are you and Linda okay? I just got a call saying next time it's not just your brother's car." He replied, his stomach in knots.
Yes, but my sports car just exploded. I was going to run to the store, then one of the kids across the street hit a baseball against the trunk and it just went boom." A.J. explained, his voice only a little shaky.
Suddenly the knot in his stomach burned through, that was the last straw, Rick decided angrily.
"A.J., that's it, I'm not waiting for them to terrorize us any more, call Ron and I'm going to get a hold of Oscar and Rob."
"Rick, I'll call them, you look after Laurie and I'll have Rob get in touch with you." The younger Simon told him.
Minutes later their phone rang, this time with Sheriff Gomez on the line.
"Rick, I got you and Laurie reconnected, seems someone called the phone company saying you were canceling your service. I can't get a straight answer out of them about bothering to check and see if the call was legit, but at least you've got phone service."
"Thanks, pal." Rick sighed, then saw his wife looking anxiously at him as she stood in the kitchen doorway. "It's okay, sweetheart." He whispered, then managed a grin at the kiss she blew him.
"Well, you're welcome, honey." Came the teasing reply from Rob, and Rick shook his head.
"Everyone's a comedian. Did A.J. call you?"
"Yeah, I hear his rocket got toasted. Oscar's going to call you on your transmitter, but he's picking me up in 10 minutes. We're going to lay a little sting for this bunch, just keep inside until it's ready." Rob answered, a hard edge to his voice.
"Will do, Rob, I'll make sure Laurie's in the loop, she's been so good about all this." Rick took a deep breath, then saw his watch light up.
"I know, Light's got the heart of a warrior. Talk to Oscar and we'll take care of these snakes once and for all." The sheriff told him.
Hanging up, Rick hit send on his transmitter. "Dad, what's the plan?"
"Rick, go get the mail about four o'clock. We're going to make it look like someone puts you out of commission, then we'll get you two into town after dark. A.J. wants you at his place." The older man explained.
Rick couldn't help but smile. "Good idea. Let me go tell….."
"No, son, tell her only when you're going to get the mail what's up; you know she's going to want to participate and I want her out of sight at all times." Oscar interrupted him.
Rick frowned, he had a bad feeling about this. "Okay, Dad, but be careful. If you guys make it look too real…."
"I know, just enough to give them something to think about. Only ones in the know will be our family and the judge and Ron. Just be ready, son." Oscar warned.
"Will do, thanks, Dad." Rick signed off, then looked to see where Laurie was. "Laurie?"
"In the guest room, darling." Her voice came faintly, and following the sound he found her drying Rex.
"Sweetheart, did you give him a bath?" he asked incredulously, and she blushed as he took in her wet shirt.
"Yes, Rick, he got into the mud, so I thought I'd better get him cleaned up. He's going to the Chief tomorrow, remember?" Laurie smiled, then let him pull her up off the rug. Seeing his wife showing through the wet shirt, Rick grinned back at her, his heart doing a flip.."wait a minute.."
"Laurie, we may have to leave Rex here in a hurry, something's in the works…" Rick started, seeing it was close to four o'clock.
The ringing of the phone cut him off, and he left the room to find the extension.
As he picked it up, he heard Laurie talking to Rex, "all right, but just for a moment, I'm not letting you get all dirty again."
"Hello?"
"Mr. Simon, you don't know me, but my name is Randolph Patrone." , a deep voice replied.
Rick tensed, this was the big man himself. "I know who you are, and what your son's trying to do to my wife and I."
"Please, Mr. Simon. I understand this is a very hard time for all of us. I have a great admiration for you and your wife. She is a very brave woman in every sense of the word and I admire what she did in saving that woman. " Rick shook his head.
"Yeah, well, if you admire my wife so much, why are you allowing your son to threaten the two of us and our family? I don't believe you, Patrone. What's more, we're going to court tomorrow."
A heavy sigh came over the phone. "Very well, Mr. Simon. I'll do what I can to, well, I won't allow you or your wife to be harmed. Please take my advice, though, don't go tomorrow."
Once again the dial tone sounded, and Rick hung up. Just then he heard the front door open, then Laurie's voice. "Mail's here, love, I'll be right back."
"Laurie, no!" he turned and called, realizing it was four o'clock.
Rushing to the front door, he frantically pushed Rex back, then vaulted out onto the porch just as Laurie shut the mail box. Abruptly a high-powered engine sounded, then a dark van careened around the corner of the highway and headed in the ranch's direction. As it neared their driveway, Rick frantically yelled, "Laurie, get down!"
Immediately she dropped flat onto the ground, then shots went off all around them.
Rick fell forward onto the walk, then lay still, waiting until the gunfire stopped. He heard Laurie cry out to him, "Rick", and he called to her, "Sweetheart, just stay still, don't move, please!"
A screeching of brakes signaled the van's departure, then Rick looked up to see his wife still on the ground, her body shaking. Fear rose up in him, and he got up and limped to her side.
"Darlin', don't make a sound, play dead. I'm going to take you inside now, just go limp." He whispered, then he saw her open her eyes.
"Rick…" she mouthed, relief in her eyes. Loudly he cried "Laurie!", then picked her up and carried her inside the house, hoping that if anyone was watching, they were fooled. Once he closed the door, she started to shake again. "It's all right, angel." Rick tried to soothe her, putting her down on the sofa, then sitting next to her. As he pulled her against him, he caught his breath at her scraped and bloodied knees.
"Oh, Laurie, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken that call." He started, then she stopped him, putting a hand on his arm. "Rick, I'm all right, if you hadn't called out to me, I was terrified ….they could have killed us, darling…."
Abruptly she stopped, then looked at him, understanding mixed with hurt in her eyes.
"That was a setup, wasn't it, Rick. The van, was that Rob?" Rick nodded, suddenly realizing what a mess he'd made by not taking the time to tell his wife about the ruse.
"And me, honey." Oscar came into the house through the back door, followed by Sheriff Rob. Rick took her hand then said, "I'm sorry, Laurie, I started to tell you that I was going to get the mail, and that we were going to stage an attack to fool Patrone. But that phone call, …."
Laurie sat up, her face flushed. "Rick, why didn't you tell me earlier, I wouldn't have spoiled it...you have trusted me to…"
"Laurie, listen to me." Oscar's stern tone stopped her in mid-sentence. He sat down next to her on the sofa, as Rob perched next to Rick
"I told Rick not to tell you until right before we came. He was supposed to go pick up the mail, then you were to stay inside while he pretended to get shot. That way we would mislead everyone into believing you two were unable to come testify and that Patrone would get a delay in his trial." Laurie's eyes filled with tears as her father added, "I was afraid if he told you before hand, you wouldn't be as believable in telling everyone he was dead or hurt, or that you'd want to help with our plan." Oscar saw her face, then gently wiped her eyes with his handkerchief.
"I'm sorry, honey. I should have let him tell you so you wouldn't have been so scared. As it is, I'm afraid Rick was very believable when he ran to you, I had Rob turn around immediately to make sure you weren't hurt by one of the blanks."
Rick saw his wife look at each of them, then she let out a shuddering breath. "I'm the one who's sorry, Dad, I'm so ashamed. You guys just wanted to protect us….", she stopped, then put her arms around Oscar and kissed him, then leaned over and hugged an emotional Rob.
"You two are so dear, and as for my brave, oh, love." She stopped, then buried her face in his chest.
"Sweetheart." Rick wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. "It's alright. You were very convincing, darlin' and I think we fooled them. Now we're going to pretend to go to the hospital, then we'll stay at A.J.'s tonight and go in the back way to court tomorrow."
He felt her shaking stop, then she raised her tear-stained face to his. "I'm okay now." she sniffed, then kissed him. "I love you, my fear was for you, darling."
Now Rick was ready to cry, "I love you too, Laurie." He managed. She hugged him tightly, then sighed when Oscar cleared his throat. "All right you two, it's almost dusk. I'll pack up dinner while you get a change of clothing. Rob, check with the sheriff's station, see if there's been any inquiries about shots fired."
"Wait a minute, Dad." Rick went to the bathroom then came back with antiseptic and bandages. Cleaning his wife's scraped knees, he took the opportunity to "kiss and make it better", to Laurie's delight.
"Rick, we forgot something, what about Rex? He's too young to leave by himself, and with Mike at the Chief's…." Laurie began.
"All fixed, Light." Rob came back in the room. "I'm taking Rex home, I have his brother Scotty so he'll have a buddy to play with."
"Thank you, Rob." Laurie hugged her friend, then went to grab her things. As soon as she left the room, Oscar put his hand on Rick's shoulder. "You did good today, son. Except for the mess up with the phone call, you said Randolph Patrone called?"
"Yeah, and he says he doesn't want anything to happen to us. He claims to have an admiration for Laurie, but advised me that we shouldn't go to court tomorrow. I almost believed him." Rick explained.
"Well, maybe he was telling the truth, but I'm not taking any chances. Tomorrow when you and Laurie go to court, I want you and Ron to go in one door, and I'll walk Laurie in the other. We'll do the same when we leave. Just as long as the danger lasts, I want you two to stay with one or the other of us at all times." The older man said.
Rick let out a deep breath, "You're right, Dad. Hopefully after this trial things will get back to normal."
